Con Griwkowsky, Edmonton Sun

It was 30 years ago this season when the Eskimos last had three 1,000-yard receivers.

Hard to forget, for those of us who were alive and kicking back in 1981.

Brian Kelly, 74 catches for 1665 yards.

Tom Scott, 73 catches for 1240 yards.

Waddell Smith, 65 catches for 1077 yards.

Kelly was named to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Scott followed in 1998.

Friday night, this year’s version of the Eskimos had a long-shot chance of matching the feat.

Fred Stamps was already there.

Adarius Bowman was 73 yards back.

And Jason Barnes needed 131 yards.

Not outside the realm of possibility.

Bowman made sure with a 71-yard TD catch early in the tilt that gave the Eskimos Two Grand Men.

Barnes had a rougher go, so the Esks had to settle for a pair of 1,000-yard men for the sixth time since 2001 and the first since 2008.

Apparently, getting three is a lot tougher.

Once again, history wins.

Passing fancy

A touchdown pass!

A touchdown pass!

When Saskatchewan quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie hit Chris Getzlaf with a 21-yard TD pass 1:36 into the second quarter, there were great celebrations in Regina.

The TD pass was the first in 6.5 games, a drought spanning 410 minutes, 10 seconds.

Last time Saskatchewan scored a TD pass was Sept. 17 against Montreal, when Darian Durant was at pivot.

Guy who caught it? Chris Getzlaf.

Good buddies

Eskimos offensive linemen Aaron Fiacconi and Kyle Koch both came off the injured list to accept some accolades during half-time.

Fiacconi is the winner of Edmonton’s David Boone award, which makes him the team’s nominee for the CFL’s Tom Pate Award, given to the player who combines community service and sportsmanlike play.

Koch is the Eskimos nominee for the Jake Gaudaur Veteran’s Trophy, named after the former CFL commissioner.

Steady, boys

Dinwiddie was a mite upset when the Roughriders were deep in the Eskimos zone and had to settle for a field goal in the third.

The target of his wrath, wide receiver Dallas Baker, got an earful from the Saskatchewan quarterback as the pair walked back to the Riders bench.

Next series, Edmonton’s Rod Williams intercepted a Dinwiddie pass to Baker on the next series.

Cole Bergquist comes in to quarterback the Riders for one series while Dinwiddie cooled down.

Painful atttempt

Damon Duval tried to play through the pain.

The Eskimos kicker gave it his best shot while passing a kidney stone.

After sitting out the last five Eskimos games, Derek Schiavone was pressed into action to place kick, dressing for only the fifth time this season.

Ride ’em, cowgirl

With the Canadian Finals Rodeo stormin’ into town on Wednesday, what could be a better warmup than having reigning Miss Rodeo Canada Kezie Morrison of Okotoks out on the field during the national anthem.

Morrison sang along out of microphone range as she stood beside 16-year-old Mackenzie Doyle, who did a great job with the anthem.

Ain’t that special

Last regular-season game, chance to do something different. The Eskimos introduced their special teams before the game.

Once again, Corbin Sharun leads the unit with 22 tackles heading into the game.

Sharun, a former quarterback for the Strathcona Lords, led the team with 16 special-team tackles last season.

Nice gesture for a unit whose contributions are often unheralded.

Barnes-burner

No. 81, Edmonton, Jason Barnes.

No. 81, Saskatchewan, Freddie Barnes.

Both wide receivers.

Freddie a pre-game scratch.

Better luck next year.

We’ll miss ya, Ken

It’s not the way Saskatchewan head coach Ken Miller would have wanted to go out.

In what was supposed to be a transition year, Miller had to mop up the season after leading the Green Riders to Grey Cup appearances the last two years.

With Miller scheduled to make a permanent move to his North Carolina condo, the Roughriders faces a massive rebuilding job this off-season.